North Sydney MLC building added to state heritage register
By Bates Smart and McCutcheon, 105 Miller Street, North Sydney, 1954-1957

Docomomo International is pleased to announce that the MLC Building is now listed on the State Heritage Register. The Independent Planning Commission supported the Heritage Council’s recommendation to list the building and the Minister has concurred. However, as Scott Robertson, President of Docomomo Australia states, “whilst this battle has been won we now have to be vigilant when plans for the building’s refurbishment are submitted as the IPC report stated that substantial work could occur to the facades (even removal of fabric) and that the rear wing could be demolished if necessary.” To ensure that the heritage values of the…

Under threat – Casa Roja
By Rogelio Salmona, El Poblado, Medellín, Colombia, 1966

Docomomo International became aware that the Casa Roja, in El Poblado, Medellín, Colombia, designed by Rogelio Salmona, in 1966, is at risk of being demolished according to La Dirección de Patrimonio y Memoria, which received an issuance of the Construction License C2 for the development of a real estate project. “In this regard, and given the apparent imminent demolition of the house,  La Dirección de Patrimonio y Memoria makes a urgent call to the municipal administration, in order to protect this important legacy that the architect Salmona leaves to the city of Medellín – the only buildings designed by the…

Central Vista – Redevelopment Project
By Sir Edwin Lutyens and Herbert Baker, New Delhi, India, 1911-1931

Docomomo International would like to draw your attention for the proposed Redevelopment of the Central Vista in New Delhi, India, shared by the coordinator of the NSC 20C, ICOMOS India. ICOMOS India prepared the document Central Vista Heritage Resource Concerns and Intervention Parameters, in order to provide heritage-specific guidance and directions with the hope to ensure that well established heritage conservation norms and guidelines are adhered to the core values and character of the historic site are not adversely compromised in any manner. “Central Vista, the most iconic part of India’s capital city, valued worldwide as an exceptional urban ensemble,…

Nuclear Heritage: Chernobyl wants to become World Heritage

Docomomo International would like to share the news from the European Heritage Tribune entitled “Nuclear Heritage: Chernobyl wants to become World Heritage”. “Almost 35 years after the nuclear disaster in Ukraine, authorities hope to make the 30km Chernobyl Exclusion Zone a Unesco World Heritage site. To achieve the protected status, a place ‘must be of outstanding universal value’, according to UNESCO. The Ukrainian government hopes the preservation of the abandoned plant will attract more tourists. Oleksandr Tkachenko, the Ukrainian culture minister, believed that putting Chernobyl on the UNESCO heritage list is a first step towards making the former plant a…

Update: Under Threat – Kala Academy
By Charles Correa, Goa, India, 1970s

Docomomo International became aware by the architect Nondita Correa Mehrotra, director, Charles Correa Foundation (CCF), that the renovation plans for Goa’s Kala Academy are underway, but there are questions related to its budged of Rs 50-crore. The Indian Express states “After Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant laid the foundation stone for the renovation of Kala Academy on April 5, there are questions being raised on the validity of the Rs 50-crore project. A prominent centre for promoting art and culture in Goa, Kala Academy that hosted numerous festivals and concerts since it opened in 1970, is in need of maintenance…

Under threat: Wohnbedarf shop
By Marcel Breuer and Robert Winkler, Zürich, Switzerland, 1932-1933

Docomomo International became aware by Docomomo Switzerland that the Wohnbedarf shop at Talstrasse 11, Zürich, designed by Marcel Breuer and Robert Winkler, 1932-1933, is under threat due to the proposed renovation works. “On 21 January 1933, Wohnbedarf AG (wobag) moves into the new Zurich business premises designed and built by Marcel Breuer and Robert Winkler. Wohnbedarf still operates a furniture shop at this address today, which is known far beyond the Swiss borders.We recently learned that the owners of the building, which also housed the Zurich Stock Exchange, were going to carry out renovation work on the facades and interiors….

Under threat – Kamalapur Railway Station
By Daniel Dunham and Robert Boughey, Dhaka, Bangladesh, 1961-1968

Docomomo International became aware that the Kamalapur Railway Station, designed by Daniel C. Dunham and Robert G.Boughey for Berger Consulting between 1961 and 1968 in Dhaka, Bangladesh, is threatened due to the an extension plan of the Dhaka Metro Rail’s Line-6 that includes its  demolition and  replacement by a new infrastructure, rather than its adaptation. Similarly to the Indian Institute of Management in Ahmedabad (IIMA), by Louis Kahn in India, the Kamalapur Railway station is a masterpiece of the Modern Movement in South Asia threatened by the government’s action. “The Kamalapur Railway Station has stood east of the city’s Motijheel…

Lost – Burroughs Wellcome Building
by Paul Rudolph, Durham, USA, 1969-1972

Docomomo International received the sad news that the Paul Rudolph designed Burroughs Wellcome Building (Elion-Hitchings Building), by Paul Rudolph, Durham, USA, 1969-1972, – the most important modern site in North Carolina, and perhaps Rudolph’s 2nd most influential built project to Yale – is being demolished. “A landmark building that helped raise the profile of Research Triangle Park and where scientists pioneered the use of AZT to prolong the lives of countless people infected with HIV is coming down. The Elion-Hitchings Building is both an important part of Paul Rudolph’s architectural legacy as well as the only Rudolph-designed structure in North…

Sign the petition – PepsiCo “Bottlecap” Theater
By Daverman Associates of Grand Rapids, Doral, USA, 1964

Docomomo International became aware by Docomomo US that the brutalist PepsiCo “Bottlecap” Theater, by Daverman Associates of Grand Rapids, Doral, USA, 1964, is under threat of being demolished due to the news owners’ plan to demolish all of the buildings on the PepsiCo property. Designed by the architectural firm Daverman Associates of Grand Rapids, Michigan, one of Michigan’s key mid-century architectural firms, being the project supervised by Robert J. Boerema. “In late 2017, PepsiCo sold its offices and bottling plant in Doral, Florida to local developers Terra and Terranova Corp. for just over $40 million. The 23.7 acre property, a…

Sign the petition – Villa Beer
By Josef Frank and Oskar Wlach, Vienna, Austria, 1929-1930

Being under threat since 2016, a petition to save Villa Beer, by Josef Frank and Oskar Wlach, Vienna, Austria, 1929-1930, is open. Besides Docomomo Austria, Icomos Austria, and the Austrian Society for Architecture (Österreichischen Gesellschaft für Architektur ÖGFA), Docomomo International wishes to raise awareness for the serious endangerment of this iconic building. Under protection since 1987, the Villa Beer is one of the most important buildings of private housing from the 1920s and 1930s. Together with buildings by Le Corbusier and Mies van der Rohe, the Villa Beer stands in the European architecture´s first row. After several preservation measures this monument…